Answering your questions
Everything from prayer to church to raising kids on the spectrum to music and beyond
Hi friends,
It has been a while since we had an AMA around here (which stands for “Ask Me Anything” in Internet-speak), so yesterday I opened one up on my Instagram Stories and my Facebook Stories for your questions to help build this week’s Field Notes. A lot of questions rolled in - more than I can answer in this newsletter, I’m afraid - but I tried to choose a good cross-section that represents a lot of questions for us today as well as a wide spectrum so buckle up.1 In the spirit of AMAs, I am making my best *attempt* at keeping each answer short and to the point, which isn’t my strong suit to say the least. But I’m trying!
You asked:
Are you happy?
Do you have more than one child on the spectrum?
Is it weird to say I am excited to find out you’re an autism mom, too? It can feel so isolating!
How excited are you for Ncuti’s first series of Doctor Who on scale of 1-10?
What are your thoughts on DW bigeneration?
Music you’re enjoying at the moment?
Best book recs for Enneagram 9s, especially re: relationships, also any recs on books on prayer?
Prayer feels like work. Help?
What are you excited for this summer?
Best piece of advice or thought for parenting neurodivergent kid?
What helped you to parent your autistic children well? I’m drowning over here.
How did you discern that you were called to ministry work, but not ordained ministry?
If you are comfortable, I would love to know your favourite skincare/makeup!
You did a Doctor Who breakdown a while ago. Is there a place I can find it again?
Do you attend church?
Do you still go to church?
Did you really find a healthy church? How??
What has been your process for deciding about church? What have you prioritized? Obstacles?
Sunrise or sunset?
You’ve been very public with your faith journey and a little of B’s but where are the not-so-Tinies at?
Have you ever been in a writing dry spell and how did you deal with it?
Favourite place to go in Calgary?
How are you adapting to the very different political climate in AB compared to BC?
Any suggestions for a first time writer? / Advice for a Christian author about to enter their debut year! What do you wish you’d known? Tips?
How are you allowing yourself rest during and after book release season?
Which Anne of Green Gables character are you most like?
Why won’t you be honest about your weight? Did you take Ozempic?
Favourite place in all the world?
How do you connect with God outside of church?
What do you miss most from when your kids were tinies?
I was at Paoli Pres with Pete Enns - did anyone complain about you flipping him off? It was hilarious.
What’s been your most pleasant surprise about moving to the city?
Out and About
But before we get into that, I wanted to share a couple of recent links with you for interviews/events/podcasts/what-not with yours truly:
This weekend, I’ll be preaching at Good Shepherd in New York City for both Sunday services, if you’re in the area and would like to say hello.
I was a guest on Dr. Meredith Hite Estevez’s podcast Artists for Joy. It’s the season finale for season 4 and it’s called Creating in the Wilderness.
I was also on The Mary Marantz Show, you’ll find me in the episode titled Field Notes for the Wilderness: Hope for When You’re Wandering.
I’m the featured guest for April at
for Pastors, Priest, and Guides. (I’m also speaking at this Chicago conference in May, if you’re interested.) All month long, they’ll be sharing snippets of our conversation at their Substack there, but there is also a podcast bonus with lovely music, too which you can find here.
All right, let’s get to your questions and my attempts at answers!